Illinois election results: Chicago elects its first school board president
For the first time after the 2026 midterm election, Chicago will have a fully elected school board and school board president.
In the past, the Chicago Board of Education has had 10 elected members and 11 appointed by the mayor, including the president. But starting this year the board and its president will be fully elected positions.
The president runs board meetings, helps decide the agenda and represents the entire district. Like the city's municipal elections, the school board election is nonpartisan; candidates do not run under the banner of a political party.
Three candidates are on the ballot for school board president in its inaugural year.
Jessica Biggs is a current member of the school board, representing District 6B which represents all or parts of several South Side neighborhoods and the Loop. She is a former Chicago Public Schools teacher and principal. She lives in Bronzeville and has a daughter who is a CPS student.
Hilario Dominguez is a former CPS special education teacher at Pablo Casals Elementary School in West Humboldt Park. He is also a former deputy political director for the Chicago Teacher's Union, which has endorsed him in the election. His wife is also an assistant principal in CPS and he said he plans to put his son in public school as well.
Victor Henderson is an attorney and former certified public accountant who manages the Henderson Parks LLC law firm, which specializes in corporate litigation. He is a board member of Urban Prep Academies, a network of all-boys charter school in Chicago, and said his children, parents and in-laws have attended CPS schools.
Two other candidates, Jennifer Custer and Sendhil Revuluri, dropped out of the race, but because Revuluri dropped out after early voting began on Sept. 24, his name remains on the ballot.
CPS is facing budget uncertainty after the Board of Education approved a $10 billion budget that relies on $150 million in state funding that hasn't yet been approved.
